Noticing the gaze Aaron is giving him, the blond guy inwardly smirked.

"You seems in a good mood, captain." One of the team members said to him.

"Yes, I am." The blond guy laughed and started to walk his way towards Aaron's direction. Since the moment Lucia told him that Aaron Coleman is part of the Crystals basketball team, the blond guy doesn't care whether his school wins or not. He has no intention of winning the game, but he will still play seriously for his sake. After all, he doesn't want to be on Lucia's bad side when she realizes that he is not playing seriously.

The only reason he is playing today is that he has a goal in mind. He wanted to see what kind of leader will he follow in the future. If he is not satisfied with Aaron, he will leave the organization whether his father likes it or not. He will not allow Aaron to order him around when Aaron is not competent enough.

When the blond guy reaches Aaron, he extended his hand and said, "You must be Aaron, I'm Ophius Cloris."

Aaron raised an eyebrow and stared at the extended hand of Ophius. After seconds of pondering, Aaron accepted his hand. "Cloris family." Aaron scoffed, "You sure remind me a lot of your father."

Ophius' father is one of the people that always put Aaron in a foul mood; Ophius' father kept on telling him to act like a leader he is going to be in the future.

Aaron understands that Ophius' father is only preparing him for the future, but the nagging he gets every time he visits the headquarters is not helping him. It is only giving him headaches.

"Ah, based on the tone of your voice, it seems like my old man gave you quite a hard time, hmm?" Ophius is not angry or anything because he understands that same feeling Aaron felt whenever his father nags him; those naggings sometimes makes him want to run away and never go back. "You don't have to be so wary of me, my father and I are way different from each other."

"You don't expect me to act like we're best buddies, are you?"

Ophius burst on a laugh, "Haha. No. I don't expect you to do that. The only thing that I'm expecting from you is to show me how competent you are to lead a big organization like the one your ancestors built from scratch."

"Heh. You said you are not like your father, but look at you, you do expect the same thing your father wants me to do." No wonder at first glance at this blond guy, Aaron felt a sense of familiarity. Ophius might not nag him as old Cloris would do, but the similarities between them are that they expect Aaron to be the leader that the organization needed. The one who will lead without wavering any decisions.

Of course, Aaron is not pressured by their expectation because if he let it pressure him, he knows that he will fail. He knows his self more than anybody else.

"Of course, there are always some similarities between my father and I like you and your father there are some similarities between the two of you too."

Aaron's face darkened when he heard Ophius mentioned his father in front of him. What Aaron hates the most is when people make a statement about his father in front of him; it is like a taboo word for him. Even his sister does not mention their father in front of him; she knows that he hates their father and she is being careful when they talk about their family.

"If I were you, I will be careful mentioning that man in front of me." If Arion were to hear what his son had just said, he might not be able to take it wholeheartedly. Sadness will surely devour him.

Ophius stared at him and suddenly came into a realization. He was about to say something, but the announcement that the game is about to start cuts him off. "I guess that's my cue. I'll talk to you again later, boss." A smirk was plastered on his face after Ophius said that.

After Ophius left, Zen and Josh bombarded him a question about who Ophius and what did they talk about, "You guys will get to know him soon, and right now, let's focus on the game."

Aaron still has not forgotten about the bet he made with Lucia and remembering the penalty if he loses making his body s.h.i.+ver in horror. Just imagining himself wearing such clothes will become his nightmare every night.

"Gather up you little punks!" The Crystals' basketball team coach calling his players to gather around him and say his final encouragement for this game.

"Wow coach, is that how you call us now? That is not nice." Though Ike said this in a playful tone, he is quite nervous for today's game. His last year game with the Tigers is nothing compared to the nervousness he is feeling right now.

"I can call you guys however I want!" In some point, all the hard times he was coaching this little punks in front of him was somewhat dissipating by calling them that. "I'm going to keep this short..." Coach Jackson smiled at them, "Whether we win or lose, you guys already made proud with the hard work you guys poured on your training."

Coach Jackson is sincere with the words he just said. Even though Jackson wants to bring back to old glory days of Crytal High's basketball team, he still wants his players to have fun; it doesn't matter whether the Crystals lose again to the Tigers as long as his team players are having fun.

"Coach, losing this game is out of the question," Josh said in a firm tone of voice, and his fellow two friends nodded in agreement on what he had just said.

Coach Jackson's lips twitched when these three annoying punks just ruined the moment he made. 'Can they not ruin the moment when the team is in a sentimental moment?' Sometimes these trios compet.i.tiveness is such a headache.

"Haha. Coach, you don't have to mind these three, the rest of us gets what you are trying to say here." Hearing that statement from the captain of the team, coach Jackson somehow wants to cry of Chris' personality.

Out of all his players, Chris is the nicest of them all.