Chapter 119 (Vigilantes)

Number 6 lands his destructive punch, flames appear to swallow Koichi whole, and only pieces of the costume are left behind. All For One reads it as a clean kill, since a blow like that leaves no one standing, though he grumbles that without a body there is no sample to collect. On balance he still counts the experiment a success for what it uncovered about Koichi's buried potential, which in the end could not outlast Number 6's stubbornness. He offers congratulations on the win, noting that although the combustion will soon slip its leash and burn his pupil away entirely, the light shed on his own future was glorious.

Screaming in agony, Number 6 pictures his younger self out on the playground, playing hero alongside neighborhood kids, only for all of them to leave him alone, until one boy turns up. Then he and All For One both find Koichi alive, sliding along the street on a broken right leg, thinking about how far past his limits he is and how nobody would fault him for running, yet here he still is.

Hearing that roar, he reflects on where he usually hears such sounds: from villains and criminals whose Quirks have slipped loose and endangered people. He can never sit still when that noise reaches him and finds himself moving toward it on instinct. Part of it is protecting bystanders, but part of it is that the one making the sound looks like someone who needs help too. Either way, his job is to trust that the Heroes will arrive and put things right, and until they do, he is the one standing here.

Inside the imagined playground, a young Koichi shows up holding an All Might figure while Number 6 produces an O'Clock figure to play with. In the real world, the monster blasts Koichi away again as the Narufest crowd watches the fiery kaiju in horror. The two children keep passing their toys back and forth while the two adults fight on toward the death.

All For One believes Koichi is dead and commends Number 6's part in the experiment despite his impending burnout.

Koichi survives the devastating punch and continues fighting on a broken leg to keep Number 6 contained.

He reflects on why he instinctively runs toward the screams of people whose Quirks have gone out of control.

Number 6 pictures the two of them as kids on a playground, trading hero figures, while the real fight grinds on.

Titled Until Then I'm..., the chapter runs nineteen pages and was released on February 12, 2022. It is collected in Volume 15 and belongs to the Naruhata Lockdown arc, following Chapter 118 and preceding Chapter 120.

All For One and Number 6 share the cover. Hideyuki Furuhashi writes the series and Betten Court provides the art.

The chapter first ran under the title Koko ni Iru, meaning I'm Still Here, with the title changed for the collected volume.