This is set after The Midoriya Effect, but can be read as a standalone.

Everyone in U.A knew that Midoriya Izuku was the epitome of adorableness. His level of adorableness was probably on par with (or even higher than) a baby deer or mewling kitten or some next-level cute baby animal of sorts. It was something they all knew. It was a fact; just like how water is wet and people need oxygen, Midoriya Izuku was cute. Indisputable fact, period.

It was why they never really talked about it. You don't really argue against indisputable fact that everyone knew about, so everyone affiliated with U.A just agreed with it silently and went on with their lives. They knew this, after all.

Others, however, couldn't say the same.

It was a trend 1-A kids had started to notice. When Izuku smiled, the cuteness level went off the charts and he was pretty much able to bring anyone to their knees without even realizing why, bless his dense but loving heart. This, however, had the unintended side effects. People react to cute things differently, after all. Some people coo at them. Some would want to hug them. Some would do anything to keep them safe and happy.

Some preferred to punch them because they were too damn cute. Some would stab them. Some would, without question, want to mush them into a sorry imitation of mashed potatoes made out of flesh and blood.

Fortunately for Izuku, most people tended to want to coo and hug cute things. Few of them would want to hit and hurt the cute things. Unfortunately for him, those few were usually the more vicious villains, who Izuku would soon deal with on a daily basis.

(1-A kids had agreed at least some of them would join the agency Izuku would be joining. Iida and Yaoyorozu had come up with contingency plan to it, a contingency plan to that contingency plan, and a contingency plan to the contingency plan to that contingency plan, plus possible options on how to react to certain situations that Todoroki had helped provide based on Endeavor's trainings for said certain situations. One could never be too prepared.)

That didn't mean they couldn't make use of Izuku's cuteness, however. Villains may be villains, but most of them reacted to cute things the way they would; by not wanting to hurt that cute little thing. Bakugou, the one most exposed to Izuku's sunshine smiles and sparkling eyes, was the first to have the thought of might as well use this occurring to him.

It was in the middle of a two-on-two battle. Aizawa, seeing Bakugou and Izuku's relationship having improved, decided to pair them to see how they would work side-by-side. The ones battling them were Iida and Todoroki, who worked well together. Bakugou and Izuku were pretty much neck to neck with them, and it didn't look like one of the pairs would be winning anytime soon.

Bakugou was apparently tired of having to deal with it, so he shoved Izuku forward and yelled, "Hey, Deku, go smile at them!"

"Wait, what?" Izuku turned to him in confusion.

"Just do it, you nerd."

Hesitantly, Izuku did. He turned back to Iida and Todoroki and hesitantly gave a soft smile while the two charged ahead to attack.

The effect was immediate. Iida's Recipro stuttered and coughed up smoke as he ground to a halt, while Todoroki slipped on his own ice and fell on his butt. Bakugou, who was safely behind Izuku, cackled loudly and stomped his way forward and pulled Izuku back before blasting their opponents with controlled explosion from his palms.

Aizawa sighed. "Team Bakugou-Midoriya wins," he said, sounding even more done than usual, while the other 1-A kids chattered their comments on the fight.

"Why did I never think of that before?" they heard someone lament. All of them knew they were referring to using Izuku's cuteness against foes. None of them commented on it.

Uraraka was the one to use it next, and she would shamelessly use it again and again unrepentantly and without regrets for the years to come. (Everyone would wonder how, at that point, Izuku still failed to see the power of his own cuteness.) They along with Tsuyu, Iida, and Todoroki were hanging out together at the café near U.A, sitting at the outdoor patio and drinking their preferred drinks when some jerk with his group rowdily joked and shoved each other, unbothered by the convenience store drinks they had in their hands. One of them shoved a boy with long bleached hair too hard, and he bumped into Uraraka's seat. The coffee cup he was holding slipped from his hand and fell, and Uraraka reacted by touching it and activating her quirk to float it safely.

The thing was, she touched the coffee cup. The still-hot coffee still spilled over her chest and stomach. She squawked in surprise and pain, jumping to her feet so fast the chair she was sitting on toppled to the ground, and the boy who spilled coffee on her tripped on it and fell.

"Hey, what the hell?!" one of the fallen boy's friends demanded. "Who do you think you are, tripping our friend like that? Apologize to him!"

Uraraka's temper was lit instantly. "Excuse me? He practically dumped his coffee on me!"

The fallen boy clicked his tongue. "It's your own fault for sitting on my path, you bitch."

Uraraka's jaw dropped in rage. Iida shifted in his seat, though it was unclear if he did it to restrain Uraraka or to deck the boy in the face. Frost started to cover Todoroki's cheek. Tsuyu's unnervingly unblinking gaze zeroed in on the boy's face. Izuku shrunk into his seat, not sure what he should do. He knew he should try to stop this before the tension snapped into a fight, but years of being bullied made him reflexively avoid confrontation unless he absolutely had to face it.

"Sitting on your path – " Uraraka repeated. She huffed in disbelief. "You people were shoving each other like some kind of cave dwellers! You should have stayed on your lane and walk like civilized human beings!" She pointedly whirled to Izuku. "Deku, back me up here!"

Izuku let out a meep when the boy's group glared at him. He shrunk further into his seat before Tsuyu poked him and stared at him unblinkingly with a look that loudly said straighten up, you're alright without any word. He shuffled in his seat as he straightened up and looked at the fallen boy hesitantly. "I, uh. I think she's right? Um, it's clear that this is an outdoor patio and the seats are there and you were just shoving each other into one of them, so…"

The boy shot into the air like there was something pulling and pushing him, and Izuku's inner analyst wondered what the boy's quirk was before it was silenced as the boy loomed over him and jabbed a finger at him. "Are you saying it was my fault I fell?!"

"I never said that!" Izuku squeaked. He missed how his friends were glaring daggers at the boy as if they could murder him with their gazes. "It's just that… you should have been careful…? Especially in public space like this?" He gave a smile that he hoped came out as placating instead of bone-rattlingly nervous like how he actually felt.

Immediately, the boy froze. He slowly drew back while staring at Izuku wordlessly. Izuku's smile wavered.

Tsuyu cleared her throat and the boy and his squad jumped. "I think," she began, "that you should apologize to our friend."

The group looked like Tsuyu had just suggested them to strip to their underwear and dance in the streets. One of them opened their mouth.

Todoroki elbowed Izuku right then. His wavering smile widened a fraction from nervousness and he added Tsuyu's words with his own, "Um, I agree… sort of? I mean, apology would have been… nice?"

The boy looked away. "Fine. Sorry."

"Try not to do that again," Iida chided, "you could get someone in danger." Beside him, Uraraka grinned a wide, wide, shit-eating grin.

The boy looked about ready to bite Iida's face off, but Todoroki elbowed Izuku again right then and Izuku blurted a meek "please?" in response, the wavering smile still in place. The boy sourly glared at Todoroki, suppressed a scream, and nodded in defeat.

As the group left, Uraraka held out a hand to Iida, which he promptly slapped in a satisfied high-five. Tsuyu let out a pleased ribbit and Todoroki patted Izuku's head solemnly as he looked around in bewilderment.

The next time Izuku's cuteness was used was a little bit more… extreme.

There was a villain breakout. U.A's heroics department students, having already had their provisional licenses, helped out to subdue the villains and bring civilians to safety. However, it turned out that the breakout was a massive one and the heroes on site were getting overwhelmed. The villains knew this and, in a completely dick move, started dealing in collateral damage. One of the students swore they heard Cementoss loudly and very passionately cursed the villains.

They were at the very least easy to track. One of them was pretty clearly the boss in the villains' ranks and many of them clustered around him. The heroes could probably take him down and his main posse that lurked around him and just deal with stragglers later. With this in mind, most of them heroes headed to where the boss was happily sitting and drinking coffee from a paper cup, with the melee brawlers at the front lines and the ones with quirks that worked well from a distance and other support-related quirks right behind them. Some people hid in the shadows, ready to pounce and provide backup if needed, such as Aizawa.

The good news of this plan was that this was a pretty solid plan. The bad news was that the villains saw this coming and had a girl hostage to ensure their safety and freedom. For her part, though, the girl just looked wholly unimpressed and done with all of this, and one of the heroes with enhanced senses reported that she asked to "go home and catch on some sleep because part time work and university assignments have been harsh and I'm running on three hours of sleep".

"Stand back, heroes!" the villain who apparently who was the head of the pack yelled in smug triumph. "We have a civilian here! If any of you do something I don't like," he activated his quirk and changed his hand into a rotating blade, "she'll lose her head."

The girl sighed something that sounded suspiciously like I wouldn't mind dying but can't you do something that'll give me an open casket funeral while taking a full cup of steaming coffee from the coffee table, where her ankle was chained to using shining chains that looked suspiciously like it was made from a quirk or at least strengthened using a quirk. She downed the coffee in one go.

Present Mic stepped forward and yelled, infusing a bit of his quirk into his voice so it would carry farther, "Can't we talk about this? Let the girl go!"

"Well leave us alone and we'll think about letting her go!" the villain brought the rotating blade to life. It whirred ominously, and he held it closer to the girl's neck. She warily stared at it and inched back.

"It's useless! We've got you surrounded!" Present Mic yelled again.

"Well then clear us a path!" the villain jerked his hand to the girl. She flinched when some strands of her hair were cut. "Do it now, or I swear this girl's head will be rolling soon."

The girl sighed. "You couldn't just do poison instead? If you want to behead me at least have the decency to give me anesthesia beforehand."

The villain glared at her. "You know, I've had had it with you. Do you honestly want to be beheaded for real?"

The girl scowled and glared back. "You know I can't do that, asshole! You say this as if you weren't blabbing about your childhood sweetheart just ten minutes ago!"

The villain sputtered. "I wasn't blabbing!"

During this exchange, Bakugou had nudged Kirishima and gestured to Izuku the moment he looked at him. Kirishima had stared for a moment before his eyes lit up in understanding. He lifted a brow to Bakugou and pointed at him in question, to which Bakugou responded with a shrug and a soft shove. Understanding the request, Kirishima nodded and crept closer to Izuku.

Todoroki grabbed him by the arm before he could tap Izuku's shoulder and frowned his question. Kirishima simply pointed at Izuku and then at the villain. A considering look passed Todoroki's face before he nodded and joined Kirishima's track.

When Kirishima got to Izuku, he tapped the green-haired teen lightly on the shoulder. He turned and stared at Kirishima, question in his eyes. Kirishima simply gestured for him to follow, and Todoroki followed behind the two to stop Izuku from bolting away the moment he realized what their plan was. Kirishima led them to the front, straight to where Present Mic was taking in a deep breath to yell out another attempt of negotiate. Kirishima's tap on his shoulder stopped him, and he stared at Kirishima. "What is it?" he asked, voice low and tightly controlled.

Kirishima waved for him to bend down a little so he could whisper something in his ear. Present Mic's eyes lit up at Kirishima's suggestion, and he readily nodded.

"What… is going on?" Izuku asked nervously.

"Don't worry about it," Todoroki patted his shoulder in reassurance. "We're just making sure things will wrap up as soon as possible."

"Uh… why do I have to be here then?" Izuku asked again. "I'm better as a melee brawler… I'm not sure how good I'd be at negotiation."

Someone let out a loud, almost giddy oh from the crowd of gathering heroes. It sounded suspiciously like Uraraka, and she sounded suspiciously anticipative.

Todoroki, for his part, simply offered more pat. "Don't worry. You'll do great."

Izuku whipped back to meet his eyes, panic bleeding in his own green ones. "Wait, don't tell me you want me to negotiate?"

Todoroki didn't have the chance to answer, because Present Mic's voice rang out to call Izuku then. Izuku jumped in his spot, ready to flee, but Todoroki readily seized him by the shoulders and pushed him to Present Mic.

"Wait – Todoroki – " Izuku stammered in an attempt to dissuade Todoroki, but the other teen simply looked away even as he got him to face Present Mic.

"Present Mic – I – Sensei, please let me get back to the group I'm better at a brawl don't tell me to help negotiating oh god I'll end up getting the hostage killed and having them shooting at us," Izuku rambled as soon as Present Mic was in front of him.

"Don't worry, Deku, this will be the perfect job for you," Present Mic assured, but his smile was a tad too wide, and it was probably just Izuku's imagination but it almost looked expectant. And also savage, in a weird way. "You just need to go as far as you're comfortable with, give this tiny little smile at the villain, and politely ask them to give up. Just that! We'll handle the rest."

"B-but – "

"I can accompany you there, if you'd like," Todoroki offered. "I'll be right behind you. You'll have to do the talking, though."

"I'm sure there are others who will do a better job," Izuku hedged. "Shinsou can – "

Present Mic cut him off by putting a finger on Izuku's lips. "Shhh, don't say that so loudly," he whisper-shouted. "There are many reasons why we can't let him do it. One, he's not in hero course and he doesn't have a license. Two, the less people know of how his quirk works, the better. He's announced it loudly enough during the sports festival." He paused and smiled. "You'll have to do."

Izuku opened his mouth to slip in some more protest, but Present Mic simply nodded to Todoroki. Todoroki nodded back and, again, seized Izuku by the shoulders and pushed him out.

A hush promptly fell, blanketing the crowd of villains and heroes both as the two young heroes walked out and stood in the very middle of it all. Izuku looked around in borderline panic, breath catching in his throat. Todoroki squeezed his shoulders and he relaxed a fraction, but it wasn't enough. It wasn't nearly enough.

"What is this kid doing in here?" the villain with rotating blade for hands asked.

Todoroki nudged Izuku, and he jolted. "I, um." Izuku licked his lips. "I was just, uh. I'm hoping that you'd stop this? And maybe let her go?" He forced a hesitant smile onto his lips, which wavered uncertainly but held somehow.

The effect was instantaneous. The rotating blade villain lowered his hands as he stared at Izuku. Some other villains let out a strangled noise that sounded like a dying horse. Some others squealed. One villain came out to the rotating blade villain and pulled on his shirt, wringing her sharp clawed fingers together. "Boss… Boss, can I claw this one in the face?" she asked, staring blankly at Izuku, which reminded Izuku eerily of Toga Himiko.

"How are you even able to think about harming this woodland creature?" another villain asked.

"Woodland creature?" yet another echoed, sounding hilariously offended. "He's a kitten!"

"You tasteless cretin – "

Just like that, the crowd of villain began arguing among themselves, quirks flaring. Some of them had gotten into fights with their own. Some rushed ahead to attack Izuku – or maybe the heroes, but Izuku stood smack dab in the middle of the two groups so really he was right in the line of fire – and others still grabbed them while indignantly shouting about "immoral beings who hurt cute critters". The hostage blinked, looked around, noticed the quirk-made chain around her ankle had disappeared, dropped to her knees, and started to crawl away.

"Welp," Present Mic said, suddenly appearing beside Izuku and making the teen jump. "This certainly wasn't the result that I was expecting, but this works."

"What were you expecting, Sensei?" Todoroki asked.

"I dunno, I guess I was just going along with others' ideas. It worked, so I'm not complaining." Present Mic rolled his shoulders and grinned. "Now, kids, better cover your ears. I'm gonna use my quirk."

Both boys didn't need to be told twice. They clamped their hands around their ears and flinched back. The fleeing hostage, who had been glancing at them every now and then, saw this and followed suit.

Present Mic screamed. The damage of his quirk was instantaneous. Most of the villains tumbled down trying to block out the noise, the ones with more sensitive hearing writhing in agony on the ground. Tables flipped, glasses were blown, windows shattered. The pro heroes surged in as soon as Present Mic began screaming, and once they were on the damage radius Present Mic stopped it. The few villains who were still standing were soon subdued. The hostage had managed to get out of the damage radius, but the noise still obviously affected her, as she dazedly rubbed her ears while being led away by the heroes.

Present Mic clapped his hands in satisfaction. "Well, I'd say that was a job well done. Good job back then, Deku." He clapped Izuku on the shoulder and turned away before Izuku could respond.

Later, the 1-A kids would file into their dorm, battered and exhausted but proud of themselves, bickering about dinner and laundry and whining about having to deal with washing their hero suits. They couldn't just chuck the suits into the washing machines and later on the dryer; nooo, the special properties in the cloth meant they had to wash them by hand, what a pain.

"I still don't get why I had to be the one talking with the villains," Izuku piped up after a while. "Mic-Sensei seemed to have it handled. And why did they end up fighting amongst themselves? I guess they weren't that good at coordinating with themselves, but still – "

Bakugou cut the stream of thoughtful mumbling with a loud, sharp "You dense motherfucker," before storming into his own room.

Izuku stared at him in confusion. "Was it something that I said?"

"Don't worry about it, Deku," Uraraka assured. "You did nothing wrong."

A/N: So apparently I churn out cute fics in time of stress. This certainly calls, because uni assignments are starting to choke me and I need an escape from reality.

Fun fact: the hostage's quirk is called No Filter. She literally can't filter whatever goes through her mouth. Whatever she thinks, if she opens her mouth to speak, will come out. (It's gotten her into trouble before.) It also has effect on people around her; if you hang around her long enough you wouldn't be able to filter your thoughts when you speak, either.