Disclaimer: No I don't own Blue Exorcist...get over yourselves already.

A/N: As some of you might know, I've recently moved to Vancouver, BC. Things are starting to settle down and we have nearly all our stuff here and unpacked. Unfortunately, we all ended up sick with colds during this; which totally doesn't help the unpacking process. The inspiration of this little fic comes from my Almost Stepmother's idea to help with the Sore Throat of Doom.

-start-

The Scarf

The sounds of abject misery echoed throughout the cram school classroom. But, in a twist, this didn't come from either Rin – struggling with the newest bit of work – or Shima – due to pissing off Izumo – but from the teacher's desk.

Yukio sneezed again and grabbed another tissue from the box on his desk. The students stared.

It wasn't the sight of Yukio sick that had their attention, not really. After all, they had already been informed by Rin that Yukio was sick – and thus not going to normal school, despite his protests otherwise, as Rin had shown his big brother stripes and forced him to stay at the dorm – but that, despite his urgings otherwise, refused to let a substitute stand in for a day at the Cram School. To say Rin was irritated about his "stubborn little brother, that stupid spotty-four-eyes" would be an understatement.

(Not that anyone was surprised by Rin's reaction to Yukio suffering in any manner. The last time a lucky demon managed to score a hit, it didn't have any time to celebrate as it was quickly roasted by a pissed off Rin who then started fussing over his brother, the rest of the demons ignored unless they came too close; upon which they suffered the same fate as the first one. Needless to say they quickly got the message and the rest of the Cram Students were forced to pick up the slack as the demons focused exclusively on them, to Bon's ire. Not that Rin didn't have a reason to fuss, as it was a pretty bad hit after all.)

No, Yukio being sick didn't surprise them. It was the bright green scarf around his neck that did it. No one, not even Bon, could figure out the reason behind it.

As Yukio finished attempting to clear his sinuses – his efforts would last for about a minute – he caught the staring gaze of Konekomaru. This being the fifth time he caught a student staring and not doing their work – aside from Shiemi, who was always staring – Yukio sighed.

"Alright. Since you obviously have a question, please just get it out already, so you can go back to actually doing your work."

The class flinched a bit at that – except Rin, who, for once, was the only person there focusing exclusively on the work – then exchanged glances.

Bon ended up being the one to speak. "We were just wondering sensei...what the purpose of the scarf is..." The heat of summer was still present, abet in a reduced amount, after all.

Yukio had to smile a little at their confusion, and gave a quick look at his brother, who had stopped his work in interest of what Yukio's response would be. Yukio turned back to the class to answer, but was delayed by a sudden fit of coughing. The hacking sound didn't do wonders for people's confidence in the health of their sensei – especially Shiemi, who's look changed from slight worry mixed with curiosity, to true worry and Rin who looked about ready to switch over to fussy older brother mode – but luckily it didn't last long.

Once he had his breath back, Yukio resumed speaking. "Well, it's to help with my cough in fact."

This obviously confused and surprised them all. "Really? How does that work?" Konekomaru had to ask.

"The heat from the scarf helps my white blood cells deal with the bacteria in my throat." Yukio gave a small smile. "I've been doing this since I was very young and it always works."

The students all looked impressed. "Wow Yuki-chan..." Shiemi looked awed – not that that was uncommon around Yukio – by this. "You figured this out while you were just a kid?"

Yukio paused, a strange look in his eyes. "Actually..."

Almost nine years ago...

Yukio felt horrible. Utterly horrible. I-Feel-Like-Dying horrible.

Christmas – and the twin's birthday – had gone well. Very well. As did New Years. But after that was done, his sickly body apparently decided it was time to be "sick as a dog" as Tou-san had put it.

He sneezed.

It wasn't the first time he had gotten sick, but this time felt like the worst. Yukio curled up in his bed and wondered why his brother hadn't gotten sick with him. Of course, Yukio had always been witness to his brother's unnatural strength so he figured that was why Rin didn't get sick.

'Maybe I gave all my strength to him before we were born...' Yukio wondered, slightly sourly. Normally he wasn't one to think ill of his brother – he was something of a hero to him – but he was very sick and thus in something of a "mood" thus.

A timid knock on the door got his attention. "Come in." Yukio called, then promptly dived into another coughing fit. When it finished, Yukio opened his eyes to the sight of one very worried looking older brother. "Nii-san..."

"You alright Yukio?" Rin bit his lip as he took in his suffering younger brother. Rin hated it when Yukio was hurt or in some kind of pain. Unfortunately for him a cold wasn't something he could beat up in response.

Being helpless to aid Yukio...Rin found that he hated it. Even more than when people called him a "demon".

Yukio slowly shook his head in response to Rin's question. He didn't bother lying to his brother, as he had the uncanny knack of knowing when he was doing so. Which was odd, Yukio had to wonder, as their father and others were quite able to lie to him without any cries of such. Maybe it was just something he had towards him. A brother thing.

Rin frowned, then pulled his hands from behind his back. Yukio blamed his cold for not noticing this before. He blinked at the bright green cloth presented to him. "Nii-san...what's this?"

"A scarf." Rin said. At Yukio's confused look, he hastily added. "I thought it would help. I mean...it's called a cold right? So maybe keeping warm will help. And the heating isn't that great here..." Rin trailed off and unconsciously made a puppy face. "Will...will you try it?"

It took only a second's exposure to his brother's puppy look before Yukio reached out and grabbed the scarf, eyeballing it. It was sized for an adult and so could, theoretically, be wrapped around his entire body.

"Um...do I put this around my neck?" Yukio had to ask thus.

Rin gave him a flat look. "It's a scarf." As if that solved everything. Yukio sighed, had another coughing fit, but managed to work the scarf around his neck eventually. It made him feel stifling hot, but the look on his brother's face halted any complaints.

There was a moment's silence. "Do you need anything else, Yukio?"

Yukio stared at his big brother. Then reached out with his hand. Rin quickly got the message and clasped it with his own. "Stay?"

"Hm." Rin nodded, smiling softly.

Not too long later, Shirō poked his head in to check in on his youngest...and a grin spread across his face at the sight of his two little boys curled together, though only Yukio was fully on the bed. He then paused, eyeing the green mass around Yukio's neck for a moment before shrugging and pulling out the camera he made a point of carrying everywhere.

Little boys were such great photo opportunities.

The next day, Yukio found that the Throat Ripping Cough From Hell (Patent Pending) was mostly gone, with only a ghost of it left. Rin was rather smug about it, claiming it was the scarf's help that did it. Everyone else was slightly sceptical...

...until the cold spread to the rest of the monastery and everyone else ended up trying out the scarf idea and finding it truly did work.

Yukio had to smile when Rin – the only one not effect by the cold – took it as bragging rights.

Back at the present...

Yukio paused, yanked himself from memory, and finally answered. "Actually, it was Nii-san's idea."

Silence. Everyone turned to stare at Rin.

"You're kidding." Bon deadpanned. "That idiot actually thought of something smart?"

"Oi! I can have smart ideas too!" Rin protested.

Bon rolled his eyes. "Yeah, a scarf is a great idea. It's mighty uncomfortable. Just gargle with salt water or something. You just got lucky with the scarf; probably the only thing that makes it smart."

Rin glared. "I had a smart idea today as well."

"Oh, do tell?" Bon sneered.

"The reason I told Yukio to stay at the dorm, aside from allowing him to rest," – he paused here to glared at his unrepentant brother – "was because it's the first day of his cold and it's always very con-ta-gious at this stage. In a few days time at most, I'm going to bet everyone here will have a cold." He paused. "Except me, of course."

Yukio had the grace to look sheepish as he realized that Rin had a point, while the students blanched. Nobody likes being sick, especially with a cold.

As the class was quite promptly and firmly distracted from the lesson plan as everyone burst into chatter and arguments, Yukio gently touched the scarf around his neck.

It was totally a coincidence that he had always used the same scarf that Rin had given him so long ago – though it fit better now – as it just had a tendency to be the first one he grabbed. Totally. Coincidence. No attachment what so ever.

Despite this, Yukio couldn't help the fond smile that crossed his face.

A few days later, true to Rin's prediction, the entire class – aside from the aforementioned half-demon – was down with a cold.

Not to mention wearing scarfs as Rin had convinced them they had to wear them (don't ask how, they really don't know). Bon glared like mad throughout it all; especially by the next day when the cough was nearly gone.

The others just excepted it gratefully, especially since it came with free homemade chicken noodle soup. Any food from Rin was worth the heat the scarf gave.

Not to mention his utterly smug attitude throughout it all, to which Yukio could only sigh about.

-end-

A/N: Yes, the scarf trick works. For the same reason Yukio gives which is what my A.S gave me. I tried it last night and today is the first day I didn't wake up feeling like my own throat was trying to suffocate me to death. I'll use it again tonight; hopefully that will be the end of it. Cold is slowly dying down...

I thought of this as I lied in bed in the morning, slowly getting the urge to get up and have my morning shower. The "it's called a cold so you should warm up" thing seemed like a good reason why Rin would use this as a way to help his brother get better. It is canoncally mentioned that Yukio was rather sickly when young; which means that he probably got sick a lot. As for Rin...anyone who doesn't even notice a Ghoul's poison or the Impure King's Miasma won't get anything as silly as a cold, even before his awakening.

Frankly amazed I managed to get this done rather quickly; mostly because my laptop decided to be a bitch. It's better now though.

Magic sweet buns for reviewers!

~Love Psycho