Matthew sat with Kumajirou on the bed running his hands along his soft fur, his mind was racing. Was it immature to run away like he was planning to? Perhaps, but the mere thought of it brought a smile to his face.
"Hungry," Kumajack said, turning to face Matthew and breaking the silence of Matthew's running mind.
"What, breakfast wasn't filling enough for you, eh?" Matthew said with a small smirk. He ruffled Kumapan's head and stood up. He went to the mini fridge in the room and grabbed a piece of salmon. As the bear ate, Matthew's mind continued to go faster. He began to pack their items.
"Where are we going?"
Matthew paused to look up at Kumajirou, a sad smile on his face. "We're going back home a little early and then," his voice trailed off. He decided that he would return to his main house in the capital of Ottawa, Canada. He would wait a few days, wait to see if his boss would notice him. He had to hound his boss for work…He planned to wait and see if his boss would provide him with work without prompting. Next, he would see if any other personification would contact him, and reach out to him first.
He doubted that would occur and he had accepted that.
By the time Kumajim was done eating Matthew had packed all their belongings. "Do you want me to carry you or would you rather walk?" He asked his little bear, and the bear turned to him and grabbed his hand. "Walk." Matthew smiled at him.
The pair walked out the door and down the hall hand-in-hand. Matthew ended up carrying the bear down the stairs to help when Kumajirou is this smaller size he struggles with stairs.
Matthew paused for a second wondering how Kuma could change his size, he'll have to ask the bear that in the car. Matthew quickly checked out of the hotel, ignoring the hotel clerk's bizarre look being sent to Kumajill. The bear had quickly dozed off as the pair was stuck in traffic. Exiting any city in New York State always seemed to be an absolute pain. Matthew kept the music off to let his companion sleep and to give himself time to think.
Matthew pondered to himself, he wondered why the flip in his head had been switched. Yesterday he was looking forward to this meeting, hoping that finally he'll be noticed. How he had clutched tightly to Kumajeff as he drifted off to sleep, feeling terrified and upset at the thought of being ignored once again. Now though sitting in the car, Matthew didn't feel any of that. He wasn't terrified at the thought of never being seen again and he wasn't looking forward to one-day someday being noticed.
He had this bittersweet realization, this pit in his stomach of acceptance. Accepting that he won't ever really be noticed, cared about, or anything by the other personified nations. He would always be invisible to them.
After finally leaving New York and driving across the border onto Hill Island, Canada he only had less than two hours before he'd get home. If there was one pro of being a personification of a country it meant border control went quickly, especially in his own country. Though Kumajirou did get odd looks from the humans at the border (on both sides). For the last stretch of his journey, he put on some music. Kumajirou had woken up since then, needing a snack.
"Kumajiron how would you feel going on vacation?"
"What?" The little polar bear asked.
Matthew just softly smiled and shook his head a little. He wasn't sure he could explain his plan right now. "Forget about it."
They reached their home and entered silently. They ate their dinner with light conversation due to Kumajiro being a polar bear. Matthew didn't receive any messages from the countries at the G8 asking where he was, not that he was surprised. As Matthew drifted off to sleep he debated what to do for his vacation and where to visit.
The next morning he woke up late into the morning, Kumajirou's little wet nose had nudged his hand until he woke up. "Hey Kuma" Matthew murmured before swinging his legs off the bed. "What would you like for breakfast?" He asked while stretching, he glanced at his clock it read 9:45 am. That was the latest he's slept in a while. He always felt like he had to wake up early to start the day off productively and get as much work done as possible. In reality, though he didn't need to work his boss didn't care, his fellow personified countries did not care, Kumajirou did not care if he worked. No one cared if he worked. No one cared if he tried to make things a better place or tried to give good suggestions or tried.