Who brings Lost Souls

The group had wandered quite a bit, following the predetermined path that everyone had to follow, lest they risk getting lost and dying in the forest as so many had before.

"Mhm. So Kensuke..." Jason mumbled, too impatient to swallow his sandwich properly before speaking.
"Is it true? Do people really come here to, you know..." He put his thumb to his neck and dragged it across while letting his tongue stick out.

"Hmmm... Ah hmm yes. I come here everyday. Sometimes I find people. Too late."

The mood soured.

"So it is true, huh? Goddamn."

Reading the room, Kensuke continued.

"AH. Sometimes I find people. Lost. I bring back to parking. GREAT SUCCESS!" Kensuke put both his thumbs up, his pearly smile was one you'd expect from a toothpaste commercial, not a forest guide.

This soothed nerves a little, but the forest still seemed a lot less inviting all of a sudden.

"Well, I think we’ve had enough of a break. There’s still much to see, right, Ken?"

"Hai, Leon-san. Let's go forest!" Repeating the arm spin from when they entered, Kensuke followed the direction he had pointed at. With outstretched arms, he made some silly plane noises, giving 100% to keep his guests entertained.

It didn’t take long to catch up to the rogue pilot when Mink finally asked.

"So where exactly are you taking us?"

Kensuke stopped and looked at her.

"Normal guide bring you to Ice Cave. Souvenir shop. Want you spent all the money. But not Kensuke no! Kensuke take you to Heart... of Aokigahara." He looked into the sky, folding his hands into a prayer and bowing.

Satisfied with his own answer he turned around and continued down the marked path. "Kensuke family is very old, guardian of Aokigahara. We Love, we protect and we pray. So Kensuke knows everything since little child. Even how speak English." He stretched his arms out so the thumbs-up he gave would be clearly visible to his followers.

"Okay, but what is the heart of Aokigahara, and how long do we need to get there?"

Jason was a bit unsettled. They had been walking for at least a few hours already, and they still had to walk all the way back.

"Not long. Here is first stop."

The group was confused, until they spotted something red hidden behind trees and boulders.

"What is that?"

"Ah, Mink-chan. This is... Kensuke family shrine."

He opened his arms in a V shape towards it as if presenting his new sports car. And without a hint of hesitation, Kensuke walked off the path toward the supposed shrine. The three friends looked at each other. With Jason and Mink clearly uncomfortable, Leon felt the need to step up.

"Come on, guys. What's with those looks?" He was throwing small jabs at Jason to get some kind of reaction out of him. It wasn’t working.

"Okay, seriously. I told you what this was about, and you agreed to it. The Heart of the Killer Forest! Imagine going home and being asked about it!"

Leon cleared his throat before unleashing his best impression of a grandmother.
"Oh my, you two have been to that one forest before right? How was it? …What, you were too scared and dipped out of seeing the Heart of Aokigahara? Wow, what a great story. That was time well spent, alright."

The couple didn’t like that he had a point. They'd already come this far. It would be a shame to leave now.

"Ah, there are my adventuring buddies. Welcome back. Come on, let’s check out that shrine."

Kensuke was in deep prayer, reciting a mantra.

"Come. This is prayer for safe passage. It is... important step."

"What do we pray for?" asked Mink.

"It is for Aokigahara to accept you. People leave path. Get lost. Always.
But pray with Kensuke shrine and forest protect you. Words not important. Only pray to forest, please."

Kensuke continued his mantra while the others went silent, trying not to think too hard about how creepy all of this was.

After a dreadful few minutes, Kensuke stopping almost felt like a relief. He turned around to face them but looked at the surrounding treetops instead of them. It was a little freaky when they tried following his gaze. Whatever Kensuke was seeing... they clearly didn’t.

"AH!"

The three friends jumped a little. Then Kensuke clapped his hands.

"OKAY. Very good prayer! Prayer was GREAT SUCCESS."

At this point, they knew what came after the double thumbs-up, and sure enough, Kensuke turned away from the path. Did his airwheel, and pointed straight at what was probably the deepest parts of the forest.

"LET’S GO FOREST!"