A/N: Many people have been asking how Ivan's issues from Sleep started, so I decided to write a prequel to explain it all! Enjoy!

.

Prologue

11 Years Previous

Ivan Braginsky clung to his mother's hand as she walked him into his kindergarten classroom. His cautious eyes took in the room around him. There appeared to be a bit of everything from children playing together to children crying and clinging to their parents. He gulped as he was led over to his desk.

"You'll be a good boy and stay here, right?" Anya Braginsky asked her son. "I'll be here to pick you up the moment it's over." She helped her son get situated at his desk before bending down to kiss the top of his head. "Have a good day, sweetheart."

He watched his mother exit the room, fighting back the urge to run after her and beg her to take him along. Taking deep breaths, he tried to focus on remaining calm, yet his eyes betrayed him as they began to water. Just as his tears were about to spill over, the little girl next to him reached out and grabbed his hand in both of hers.

"She'll come back," the little girl said, causing Ivan to look over at her. "Until she does, I'll stay with you, okay?" She smiled, causing Ivan to feel as if everything would be okay. "My name is Chun-Yan! What's yours?"

"I'm Ivan Braginsky," he answered, feeling his lips pull into a smile. He used his free hand to wipe his eyes. "It's nice to meet you, Chun-Yan."

"Let's be best friends, okay?" Chun-Yan cocked her head to the side cutely as she beamed at her new friend. "We will have lots of fun together, you'll see!"

.

Two Weeks Later

"Ivan! Can I help you build your sand castle?" Chun-Yan chirped at recess. After getting the go-ahead from her friend, she dropped to her knees and began pushing sand toward Ivan. "This will be the best sand castle this playground has ever seen!"

Ivan blushed as he continued constructing it. He was very happy to have the prettiest girl in his class as his best friend. Out of all people, she chose him. He never wanted to let her down. If he were to disappoint her, he was scared that she wouldn't want to be friends anymore.

"You sand castle looks stupid," the class bully commented, standing over them. He had his arms crossed over his chest as he sneered down at Ivan. "And you have to make this girl help you. Can't you build one on your own?" He raised his foot to kick down the sand castle, Chun-Yan moved to cover it and the bully's foot smashed into her face instead.

Horrified, Ivan jumped to his feet. "Why would you do that?!" he shouted. He looked down to see blood trickling out of Chun-Yan's nose, feeling his anger rising. "Chun didn't do anything to you! You hurt her!" His foot stomped heavily onto his sand castle, but he didn't care. That boy hurt Chun-Yan, and that was unforgivable! "I won't let you get away with hurting my best friend!"

The bully slowly began to back up in fear. He had never heard Ivan say so many words at one time, and he certainly hadn't seen him angry before. Seeing this side of Ivan was something his six-year-old mind could have never imagined. It terrified him, rooting him to the spot once he was three paces away.

Ivan wasted no time in reaching the other boy. He pulled his fist back before driving it straight into the bully's cheek. "Don't ever touch her again!" he shouted as he began to pummel the other boy.

"Ivan, no!" Chun-Yan cried out, jumping to her feet. She ignored the blood dripping onto her shirt and grabbed onto Ivan's arm, clinging to it with all of her might so he couldn't hit the other boy with it. "Please stop hitting him! It was my fault!"

Stunned by her words, Ivan froze. Why was Chun-Yan blaming herself for something that wasn't her fault? What she said was enough to make him stop, but a teacher had made it to the three children at that exact moment.

"Do you three care to tell me what happened here?" she demanded, crossing her arms and glaring down at the three. "Ivan, I saw you hit him. Did you hit Chun-Yan, too?"

Ivan suddenly burst into tears at her accusation. "I would never hit Chun-Yan!" he wailed, scrubbing at his eyes with his hands. "She's my best friend!" He pointed a shaky finger over to the other boy. "He kicked her in the face and I got mad! Please don't tell my dad! Please!"

Chun-Yan hugged him from behind, not noticing that she got her blood on his shirt as well in doing so. "He's telling the truth! Ivan didn't hit me!"

The teacher then corralled the three children inside to the nurse and principal. Though it was proven that the bully had started it, all three children were suspended the next day. And when they came back, two of them were hiding bruises that they were told not to show to anyone or mention.

.

Three Years Previous

Chun-Yan grabbed Ivan's arm as they walked past their old elementary school, stopping him in his tracks. "Ivan, look! It's where our friendship started!" She giggled and pointed to the sandbox. "Remember when you beat up that one kid for kicking me in the face! My hero!"

Ivan scoffed and rolled his eyes. "That kid was such an asshole," he commented as he continued walking. "Like, for real. Who does that kind of stuff? My sand castle was awesome."

"It was the best sand castle!" his best friend agreed as she skipped to catch up with him. "I wonder what ever happened to that kid. We never saw him again after kindergarten. I think his family moved?" She shrugged. "Oh well." With a sigh, she looked back at the building one more time before they turned the corner. "I wasn't expecting you to stand up for me like that, though. It was so cool of you."

"Yeah, but it got me a reputation of being scary," he groaned.

"I don't think you're scary, Ivan," Chun-Yan commented, smiling. "You're just misunderstood by others. You are actually one of the most amazing people I know!" She beamed up at him. "When we start high school next week, I'm sure you'll make more friends! We're going to have a lot of fun together!"

"You sure you won't make better friends than me?"

"Hey, don't say something stupid like that!" she huffed, punching his arm. "As if I'd ever ditch you for other people! We've been besties for how long now? That'd be really shitty of me!" Chun-Yan jumped onto Ivan's back, barely giving him any time to catch her. "No, Ivan, you're stuck with me forever! After all, sandbox love never dies!"

"Lucky me," he sarcastically commented, rolling his eyes to add effect as Chun-Yan laughed. Though he outwardly behaved that way, he knew that Chun-Yan knew the truth. She was his best friend in the whole world. If she didn't know how much he truly adored and appreciated her, then she wouldn't be worthy of that position.

Neither of them knew what high school would bring, but as long as they had each other, it would all be okay.