The following article contains spoilers for Aoashi Episode 6, "First Fan," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
If Ashito thought things would get easier for him now that he's officially a player for Tokyo City Esperion, he was sadly mistaken. The tryouts were tough, both physically and mentally, but the real work is only just beginning. Fortunately, Ashito won't have to face any potential hardships alone. Both Tachibana and Ohtomo were accepted into Esperion as well, so Ashito already has two friends at least.
As the trio gets settled in, they meet a couple of players they remember competing against during the tryouts. One of them was Yuma, who came off as very open and friendly. The other was Asari, who seemed rather serious and more like the type to keep to himself. Interestingly, when Yuma introduced the trio to Asari, the latter gave Ashito an odd look. It's a brief moment and easily missed but Ashito certainly noticed it, though he didn't say anything. For whatever reason, it seems Asari has some preconceived notions about Ashito.
It later became clear that there's a bit of a divide between the players who made the team through the tryouts, and those who were promoted from Junior Youth. However, this divide isn't deliberate, it's just that the J-Youth players have been playing together for years, so they're already used to each other. The J-Youth players are those that have been developed by Esperion from their younger years in hopes of eventually being promoted to the Youth team. Kuroda, one of the former J-Youth players and Tachibana's roommate, explained to the trio that the others just aren't good at breaking the ice.
Ashito's roommate, Togashi, finally arrived during the team's first meeting for the new players. This was where things got really strange. Firstly, Togashi arrived with a biker gang that he's no longer a member of. Apparently, cutting ties with the gang was a condition Fukuda gave him in order to be on the team. Then Ashito introduced himself to his new roommate and got an interesting response.
Togashi coldly asked Ashito if he got promoted from the Junior Youth team, and the latter of course said no. As soon as Ashito explained that he made the team through the tryouts, Togashi dropped the cold demeanor and became friendly. He subsequently told Ashito that he's fine then. This odd exchange doesn't go unnoticed by Tachibana as he figures out the obvious. Togashi was essentially saying that as long as Ashito wasn't promoted from the Junior Youth team, he has no issue with him.
Curiously, Kuroda told Ashito to watch out for Togashi and bluntly advised him not to trust his roommate. It's safe to say there's bad blood between Togashi and the players promoted from Junior Youth. What exactly the reason for this bad blood remains to be revealed. What's certain is that this puts Ashito in an uncomfortable position. After the meeting, things got even stranger for Ashito as he overheard Fukuda and Nozomi having a discussion. Nozomi told Fukuda that he's been certain since the tryouts that there's no way Ashito is going pro. That is unless he improves at a miraculous rate. He then goes on to tell Fukuda that Ashito may be his very first failure.
It's one thing for a player like Akutsu to tell Ashito that he's talentless and doesn't belong at Esperion. It's something else entirely to hear basically the same thing from his coach before the first training session has even begun. It will be interesting to see how this affects Ashito going forward. It wouldn't come as a surprise if he uses it as motivation. After all, he's proven himself to be the type who doesn't let these things hold him back.