Grey World

"Gray World" is the twelfth episode of the Beyond the Boundary (series) series, released on December 18, 2013.

Synopsis
Within the realm of Beyond the Boundary, Mirai stumbles upon Akihito, who came with the intention of saving her. Mirai is initially irritated by Akihito ruining her plans to sacrifice her life for Akihito's sake, hearing out Akihito's feelings for her in words made her reconsider. Meanwhile, Izumi confronts Yayoi about the real nature of the boy named Akihito Kanbara. Yayoi refuses to answer her questions, and instead focuses on the beam of light in the horizon (which is caused by Miroku Fujima). She quickly leaps into action afterwards, leaving Izumi to choose whether to pursue Yayoi or to stop Miroku's plans. Izumi eventually picks the latter.

Inside Beyond the Boundary, Mirai is left perplexed about how she and Akihito would defeat the massive youmu before them. Going for something that Akihito himself would hate doesn't work, and it would need Akihito to tap into his youmu powers to discover a possible way to take down the youmu.

Meanwhile, Miroku shows disappointment in the current display of might of Beyond the Boundary, and he suspects either insufficient energy from its consumed youmu or Mirai Kuriyama's potential as a possible culprit. Suddenly, Shizuku Ninomiya and Izumi Nase show up, but their attacks were quickly suppressed by Miroku, who now wields the stone of the Hollow Shadow as part of his arsenal. With Sakura, Mitsuki and Hiroomi stepping into the battlefield, Miroku quickly springs into action, capturing himself and Izumi in a barrier of sorts.

Akihito and Mirai gain some mobility by snatching a nearby scooter, and they quickly speed their way past countless youmu and the fragmented world of Beyond the Boundary. After gathering some courage, Mirai leaps to the core of Beyond the Boundary and impales it with her sword. In an instant, the sphere that hovers above Nagatsuki City breaks apart. Miroku anticipates the moment when the destroyed Beyond the Boundary collapses unto itself, destroying the world in the process.

Shaken by the collapse of Beyond the Boundary's core, Akihito wakes up to see him and Mirai surrounded by images of children who speak of his past survival in a car accident. As Akihito holds Mirai's hand and fights the images of the past with their minds, Izumi quickly loses her temper as Miroku reveals her nature as a human with a youmu inside to Hiroomi, who was there to help out his older sister in the fight against Miroku. Miroku is soon impaled by Izumi's naginata and explodes shortly after, leaving Izumi and a puzzled Hiroomi.

Moments after closing their eyes and holding hands, Mirai and Akihito find themselves surrounded by thousands of youmu. Using their respective powers, the two easily subdue the hostile youmu in their path, with Ayaka and Ai helping out in their youmu form. Several minutes later, Beyond the Boundary appears in front of the exhausted two in the form of Akihito himself. With his words and his fist, Akihito easily subdues Beyond the Boundary and absorbs it back into himself.

Mirai tries to approach Akihito, but the sound of her leg cracking like glass cements her to her position. She then asks for Akihito to come to her, to pat her head, and to thank her sincerely. When he did, Mirai's tears fall down as her left leg shatters like crystal. Soon, Mirai proceeds to say her last goodbyes as her body crumbles to dust after Beyond the Boundary has left her body. Akihito was unable to stop her from vanishing. Instead, he leaps off from the cliff within Beyond the Boundary's crumbling realm, holding on to Mirai's ring as he fell.

As Winter continued, life goes on for many. Akihito still keeps some pairs of glasses in his apartment room, and Shizuku continues to struggle earning a living as a youmu slayer. Sakura and Ai have become friends, while Miroku Fujima's whereabouts remain a mystery. Izumi left shortly after talking to Hiroomi, leaving him with the duties of the Nase family representative. Meanwhile, the Literary Club resumes as it was before, however, Mirai's absence continues to haunt Akihito, something that is all too obvious to the Nase siblings.

Then, one day, as Akihito goes to his routine trip back home, Mirai's ring disappears from his hand, and a sudden urge to head to the rooftop overwhelms Akihito. In the end of his rush to the place where he first met Mirai, a familiar sight overwhelms him to tears. Mirai, standing there, listens to Akihito's confession to her, and an unpleasant message of devotion to glasses, and soon reunites with Akihito, wearing a new pair of red-framed glasses.

Characters
By order of appearance
 * Mirai Kuriyama
 * Akihito Kanbara
 * Yayoi Kanbara
 * Izumi Nase
 * Shizuku Ninomiya
 * Sakura Inami
 * Miroku Fujima
 * Mitsuki Nase
 * Hiroomi Nase
 * Ayaka Shindou
 * Ai Shindou

Unanswered Questions

 * Where is Miroku Fujima's whereabouts?
 * Do Miroku's actions reflect that of the Spirit World Warrior Society?
 * How did Mirai return after claiming that she had "ceased to exist" some time ago?
 * What are the facts behind Izumi and the youmu inside of her?
 * Who/what is Akihito's father?
 * How were youmu sealed into Miroku and Izumi?
 * Who/where are the Nase sibling's parents?
 * Where is Izumi?
 * How/why can Akihito withstand the Kyoukai no kanata's power?
 * What ignited the incident between Hiroomi and Akihito?

Mistranslations

 * The last part of the episode shows Akihito finally confronting the recently returned Mirai on the roof and shouting his fondness for her and her glasses. However, there are two versions of what Akihito said. The most widely circulated was: "In short, I love it when you're wearing glasses, Kuriyama-san." This English translation was actually a mistranslation. The more accurate translation was: "In short, i love the glasses wearer, kuriyama-san". Fansubs have then fixed this mistake.
 * Thanfully, the theatrical movie, Kyōkai no Kanata I'll Be Here: Kako-hen, fixed this mistake by using the latter translation.

Quotes

 * Akihito: "A future without you... means nothing to me!" —to Mirai, rejecting Mirai's wishes of self-sacrifice for Akihito's sake
 * Mitsuki: "My whole life, I've always been left to watch the house since I'm the youngest. It's high time you let me graduate from being the little sister!" —to Hiroomi
 * Mitsuki: "Isn't that a total waste of time if you already know that evil will ultimately lose in the end?" —Mitsuki's review on a Literary Club entry, and a possible documentary on "good-versus-evil" stories in general