A Twitter user made this startling discovery when their mother tossed a beloved cushion into the laundry.

We all know and love Kirby, the bouncy pink ball protagonist of his own series of videogames, manga and anime. One of his biggest charm points is his squishy, circular shape: necessary for morphing all the different skills he gains from slurping up his enemies.

▼ Kirby inhales some text reading “Great Inhalation Project”.

Twitter user @shirasudaaai loves Kirby so much they own a big fluffy pillow in his image. He’s the perfect shape to sit on, prop your back up when relaxing or smush your face into when going to sleep! After all that time getting sat on and cuddled, it’s no wonder that their mother snuck it into the washing machine; though she neglected to mention it to @shirasudaaai until after Kirby was already submerged in suds.

▼ Wait until the second lid pops open to see a familiar face (tweet translation below)

“My mom told me “Oh, that Kirby cushion of yours is in the wash” so I went to open the washing machine, and I just froze in place watching it… It fit so perfectly inside…”

Kirby’s big, Bambi eyes peering out of the swooshing machine drum is a heart-rending sight. It’s made worse by how the machine rotates him firmly from side to side, like it’s trying to make him dizzy. But don’t worry, his brave smile seems to say, “I’ll be fine. I can handle this, @shirasudaaai. I love you.”

Later updates showed that Kirby survived the ordeal, and was safely hung up to dry:

▼ “I woke up to this sight. My mom hangs things to dry like we live in the wild.”

And ultimately the Kirby pillow turned out just as soft and cute as ever, but stripped of grime and ready to cushion behinds once more.

▼ “Kirby is dry! It took longer to dry him because we had rain yesterday. He’s so fluffy all over! A definite laundry success.”

▼ “I was really worried about the sides, but they turned out fine too!”

Thank goodness! We hope that Kirby keeps @shirasudaaai comfy for a long time to come, especially seeing how they spend a lot of time sitting down to play epic piano medleys.

▼ The second song in this medley is “Green Greens” from the Kirby game series

Remember, Japan is overflowing with plenty of opportunities for you to grab your own plush pink pal, though you might want to steer clear of the ones in certain arcades.

Source, featured image: Twitter/@shirasudaaai