Toshiki Minegishi

Toshiki Minegishi (峯岸 棯樹, Minegishi Toshiki) is a powerful Esper and was formerly a member of the terrorist organisation Claw as part of the Ultimate 5.

Appearance
Minegishi wears a white jacket with a cyan collar, two breast pockets, black pants with a white belt, and black shoes. His light lavender hair is parted in the middle, his eyes are narrow, and he lacks eyebrows.

After leaving Claw, he is seen wearing an apron with a sunflower printed on its front while working at a flower shop. His hair is messier, and he looks much more tired than he did as a member of Claw.

Personality
When Minegishi was first introduced, he showed a cold and scornful personality, considering any attempt to stop Claw's world domination a waste of taxpayer money. Holding himself and the rest of the Ultimate 5 in high regard, he looked down on others and viewed betrayal to this cause as unforgivable. Minegishi was renowned for using plants to strangle and suck the life force out of anyone who was caught, although Fukuda, Ootsuki and Higashio, whom Minegishi had left for dead after defeating, were freed unharmed.

When Mob encounters Minegishi, he remarks that Minegishi doesn't seem to be the type who likes plants, to which Minegishi agrees condescendingly, saying that plants are only tools only to be used. However, after being saved by Mob, Minegishi showed they had been so affected they were willing to betray even Suzuki to repay Mob. Minegishi openly admits disgust at their boss for discarding Serizawa, despite acknowledging they knew this was what Suzuki was like from the start. They also showed relief to see Hatori unharmed. Sometime after Claw's disbandment, they became a part of society. They displayed more concern for the well-being of plants and the environment.

Minegishi is quite perceptive and quick to catch on, as they could discern both the powers and roles of Fukuda, Ootsuki, and Higashio after seeing them use their respective abilities only once. They could also correctly guess that Suzuki attempted to eliminate Serizawa after the latter betrayed him, even though Minegishi wasn't present when it occurred; they also claimed to have known from the start what kind of person Suzuki truly was. In addition, Minegishi could easily guess that the Divine Tree's roots were causing cracks in the pavement throughout the city and stealing nutrients from the wilting plants around them because they found their roots outside their florist's store.

Eventually, they became a gracious and generous person, as evidenced by their concern for the plants harmed by the Divine Tree and their offer to trade Mob a much larger bouquet for his small ¥1000 daisies.

History
Not much is known about Minegishi's past, but the Omake (First Meeting) implies they were already part of Claw three years before the World Domination Arc. They looked much younger back then.

World Domination Arc
In their first appearance, they defeated Miguel and an unnamed mercenary that Joseph had convinced to turn on Claw, and berated Joseph for giving them more work to do. When Shimazaki warned the Ultimate 5 of the existence of civilian espers who may pose a threat to Claw's cause, they were sitting beside the kidnapped Prime Minister, and using plants to bind him. When the operation for world domination started, Minegishi and Shibata were tasked to widen Claw's conquered territory whilst the other two protected the base.

Later, Minegishi encountered Sho's group, claiming it was no surprise that they were part of the resistance, claiming it fitted him as he was undergoing puberty. They fought and defeated all three of Sho's subordinates, displaying a sharp analysis of their power and roles in combat, and Sho seemed to take the threat Minegishi posed more seriously than Ritsu had. After Minegishi defeated them, they berated them for their overconfidence in thinking even 3 against one could defeat one of the Ultimate 5. Before abandoning them to the plants, Minegishi told them that their betrayal was unforgivable, even if Sho was the boss' son.



Minegishi eventually encountered Mob while the latter was fending off 30 HQ henchmen, saving the ones he had levitated and noted that they had found quite a special specimen. Telling them that they could handle Mob, Minegishi ordered them to provide support as they battled him. They then got serious whilst battling Mob, using a Venus flytrap and creating a makeshift barrier using plants to block Mob's attack. Noting Mob's surprise, Minegishi revealed how their powers worked before attacking Mob again. They then showed some surprise after seeing that Mob could perform chlorokinesis too. Mob accused them of not really liking plants, to which Minegishi agreed, adding that they only saw plants as tools. Minegishi then generated trees with sharp branches which burst from the ground to attack Mob, who promptly dodged them.

Matsuo then intervened, fruitlessly attempting to provide Mob with assistance as he had assumed that the HQ henchmen were still commoners. Stunned at his strengthened power, he could not defend himself when one of them attacked him, causing him to drop one of his spirit vials. Due to their arrogance, the henchmen did not heed Matsuo's warnings about his inability to control the spirit within it and broke the vial, releasing Mogami, who absorbed the life force out of everyone near him except Minegishi, Matsuo and Mob. His sudden appearance worried Mob, and due to his immense power, Minegishi couldn't determine what Mogami was. They panicked and attempted to bind him with vines, only to have Mogami usurp control over the plants, which shocked them. Mogami used the plants to create a giant figure which grabbed Minegishi in its hand and was about to crush them, but Mob intervened. In trying to convince Mogami to spare Minegishi, Mob made them promise not to do any evil deeds again, to which Minegishi desperately agreed.



Mogami saw through this apparent act and asked Mob if he could watch over Minegishi until they had fulfilled their promise, to which Mob admitted that he could not. Instead, he replied that if Minegishi wanted to change, they needed to trust other people; if they could not, they could not accomplish anything. This somewhat convinces Mogami, who says to Mob that saying this was "quite like you". Mogami then advised Mob that he couldn't solve everything with his kindness and that, if necessary, he must be more strict to others. Mogami finished by saying that if Mob could do it, then no one could defeat him. With that Mogami dispersed, releasing Minegishi.

Minegishi reappeared again to save Mob, Serizawa, and Reigen, who plummeted from the Seasoning City Culture Tower after Suzuki's attack knocked them out the window. At the same time, their allies on the ground were busy defending themselves from the boss. Minegishi correctly guessed the events that previously occurred, prompting Hanazawa to ask who Minegishi was, but they did not answer. Minegishi admitted that they already knew what kind of relationship the Ultimate 5 and the boss had; Minegishi apologized to Suzuki and said that they still owed Mob one, not wanting the boss to end their life. When Hatori appeared unharmed, Minegishi expressed relief. Hatori was stunned since the boss told him he only trusted the Ultimate 5, to which Minegishi scoffed and said, "Seriously? That's the kind of guy he is." The boss tried to attack them again but was halted by Mob, who took the fight into the sky and left the others as spectators below.

Divine Tree Arc
Sometime after Claw's disbandment, Minegishi appeared again, working as a florist at a flower shop. They noticed the flowers in his shop were withering despite good treatment and knew it wasn't because of any disease. They expressed these concerns to the manager, adding that he should probably investigate it. But when the manager brushed them off and told them to take a break, Minegishi did not bother to continue any sort of argument, although they did look rather uncomfortable at the sudden hostility.

As they bought a drink from a vending machine, a pensive Minegishi considered their misconception of the florist manager, as they previously had the impression that he was a nice guy. They knew that finding their first job was hard enough, so they decided to bear it rather than simply look for a new one. When they crouched down by the vending machine, they noticed a clump of wilted weeds at their left, which also looked weak like the flowers in the store. They also noticed that the cracks in the concrete had grown larger since the day before. As a large root emerged from the concrete, they concluded that it must be connected to the Divine Tree and correctly guessed that it was the one who caused the damage to the streets as well as the withered plants. Contemplating, Minegishi noted that if left like that, the soil would be robbed of all nutrients, leading to a disaster. Making sure to make the roots return on his own, they commented on the large root and that it was greedy for growing this large. When they made contact with the root, a shocked Minegishi realized that the plant was also draining his energy, which it did instantly, causing them to pass out immediately. Several chapters later, it is revealed that Minegishi was fine after the end of the Divine Tree Arc.

???% Arc
After Mob tried to purchase a bouquet at their flower shop and was surprised at what a meager amount of flowers ¥1000 could buy, Minegishi approached him outside and offered to trade a much larger and fancier bouquet for his.

Powers & Abilities
As one of the Ultimate 5, Minegishi is an extremely powerful psychic. They were able to handle Fukuda, Higashio, and Otsuki, three former members of Claw, perfectly balanced in attack, defense, and support, with ease despite being in a concrete terrain. However, they were shown to be helpless against Mogami, whose superior psychic powers managed to usurp Minegishi's control of the plants, and would have killed them had Mob not intervened.

Quotes

 * "Sorry. I still owe him one. I don't want the boss to end his life."

Etymology

 * The name Toshiki means "jar, type of fruit tree" (棯) (toshi) and "tree" (樹) (ki).
 * Toshiki's surname Minegishi means "peak, summit" (峯) (mine) and "shore, bank, coast" (岸) (kishi/gishi).

Trivia

 * In the English fanslation of the manga, Minegishi is referred to as male, but the anime uses gender-neutral personal pronouns.