The courtyard had gone quiet again.
Not the peaceful kind of quiet.
The thinking kind.
Everyone had gone off to rest after the whole domain incident, but I couldn't. Not after what I felt in that courtroom… and not after failing.
I sat alone on the steps of U.A. High School's temporary dorm setup within Jujutsu Kaisen's grounds, flipping a card between my fingers.
"…A domain is the self," I muttered.
I hated that answer.
Because it meant I couldn't just learn it.
I had to understand myself.
"…Great," I sighed. "That's way harder."
Still… I wasn't giving up.
Research Begins
By nightfall, I had gathered everything I could.
Notes from Midoriya.
Explanations from Yuji.
Observations from watching techniques all day.
Even a few quiet comments from Satoru Gojo that were half-jokes… but somehow still helpful.
I sat cross-legged on the floor of my room, papers scattered everywhere.
Words circled.
Ideas scribbled.
Space.Control.Perception.Connection.Distortion.
I stared at one phrase longer than the others.
Distortion.
"…That's it," I whispered.
Because that's what I'd been doing.
Not just teleporting.
Not just moving.
Distorting space itself.
I closed my eyes.
"…If I can distort space outside…"
"…then what about inside?"
The Shift
At first, nothing happened.
Just darkness behind my eyelids.
Silence.
Then—
A ripple.
Like water.
My breath caught.
"…Wait…"
The darkness warped.
Twisted.
Folded in on itself.
And suddenly—
I wasn't sitting in my room anymore.
Mind Space
I stood… somewhere else.
There was no floor.
No sky.
Just an endless, shifting void.
Fragments of light flickered around me—like broken glass suspended in nothingness.
Each piece showed something different.
A memory.
A portal.
A moment.
Kaito laughing.
Toga chasing me.
Yuji fighting.
The courtroom.
The scientist.
Blood.
Fire.
Everything.
"…This is… my head?" I whispered.
The space responded.
A ripple moved outward from my voice.
And then—
It started moving.
The fragments began connecting.
Linking.
Folding into each other.
Just like my portals.
My eyes widened.
"…No way…"
I stepped forward—
And the space moved with me.
Not around me.
With me.
Like it was listening.
Understanding.
Responding.
"…This is it…"
My heart started racing.
"This is where a domain comes from…"
Not the outside world.
But this.
This place.
The Realization
The fragments began to shift faster.
Scenes overlapping.
Techniques replaying.
I saw Gojo's spatial manipulation.
I saw Higuruma's courtroom.
I saw Kurogiri's portals.
I saw my own…
And suddenly—
They all started aligning.
Not the same.
But similar.
Connected by one thing:
Space being controlled by will.
I clenched my fist.
"…So it's not about copying…"
"…it's about understanding the rule behind it."
The space pulsed.
Agreeing.
I stepped forward again.
"…If I can understand the rule…"
"…I can recreate the effect."
Not perfectly.
Not exactly.
But my version.
That's when it hit me.
Hard.
Clear.
Like something snapping into place.
"…I can copy techniques…"
"…but only by translating them into my space."
My breathing picked up.
"That's how I'll do it."
Not stealing.
Not mimicking.
Converting.
Adapting.
Making it mine.
The First Attempt
The space around me stilled.
Waiting.
I raised my hand slowly.
"…Let's test it…"
I thought about Higuruma's domain.
Not the courtroom.
Not the judge.
But the rule.
Forced control over a space.Binding conditions.Absolute authority.
I focused.
The mind space warped violently.
Fragments snapped into place.
Lines formed.
Structure built.
For a split second—
The void turned into something else.
Not a courtroom.
Not anything familiar.
But something new.
Something unstable.
Something… mine.
Then—
CRACK.
It shattered instantly.
I gasped, dropping to one knee.
"…Not enough…"
But I was smiling.
Because it worked.
For a second—
It worked.
Awakening
I snapped back to reality.
Back in my room.
Breathing hard.
Sweat dripping down my face.
The papers around me fluttered slightly…
Even though there was no wind.
"…I did it…"
Not a full domain.
Not even close.
But I found the path.
I looked at my hands.
Space flickered faintly between my fingers.
Different than before.
Sharper.
More controlled.
"…I can learn techniques…"
"…I can adapt them…"
"…and I can build my own."
I leaned back against the wall, exhausted—but grinning.
"…This changes everything."
Outside, the night was quiet.
But something had shifted.
Not just in power.
But in understanding.
Ren wasn't just teleporting anymore.
He wasn't just reacting.
He was learning the rules of space itself.
And soon—
He wouldn't just move through the battlefield.
He would control it completely.
I closed my eyes, one last thought echoing in my mind:
"…Next time…"
"…I won't fail."
And somewhere deep within that distorted mind space…
Something waited.
Something unfinished.
Something powerful.
Something that would one day become—
His Domain.