Shizuko was probably the only kid in the area who had never been there. A lot of the other children talked about the hot springs, although girls and boys usually had different ideas of what happened inside. Boys, who bathed on the male side, tended to think it was energetic since their fathers usually played with them or they were running around like crazy. The girls on the other hand, whom were obviously bathing on the female side, tended to have a more calm idea about it. Their mothers came to really relax and tended to force them to be still and calm. Even so, the girls seemed to enjoy themselves there and Shizuko was really envious whenever she heard anyone talk about it. It wasn't easy for her either, since she had to take the trams which she had never done before and she had no one to come with her. Not to mention, she didn't know there was a free area so she thought she was too poor to go there. At home she did bathe, but it was usually in a special barrel her father used to have that you placed over a fire. It was built in a way that the water never got too hot but still warm enough to be nice. She had learned how to use it and tended to do so regularly although probably not as often as she ought to.
One day she decided that the barrel wasn't nearly as exciting as the hot springs sounded. Luckily she knew the trams were free, so she packed a small backpack with her towel once the sun had set, then headed for the trams. Truth to be told, she almost got lost and didn't find them because she had never been in that part of town before. Despite the late hour there were plenty of people taking the tram for whatever reasons, and she truly hoped none of them were heading for the hot springs because that would for sure ruin her plans. None of the other passengers were seemingly riding together, so no one was talking about their destination or purpose with the tram ride. Shizuko just kept quiet to herself in a corner, sitting down with her legs shit, her hands gently in her lap and her head looking down. She figured that'd make her least conspicuous, and it also worked well since all the people made her a bit anxious.
Luckily the ride wasn't too bad and she was actually happy she had done it once it stopped at the mineshafts. It was a fun experience and no one had bothered her so it turned out great. However, now she realized there was another problem; she didn't find her way. She began to walk in a direction, trying her best to memorize the path she took so she could find her way back to the trams later on without having to ask anyone for directions which would probably be too difficult for her. She was lucky though; it wasn't really a surprise if you thought about it. She had lived a crappy life and deserved a break every now and then, and this was probably one of those breaks. She found the hot springs. As she looked up at the building, she grew more and more anxious as she knew she would do something bad, really bad. But she had no money to pay and she really wanted to try the hot springs. Once she gathered her courage she snook around and tried to find a fence she could climb. Not a single thought crossed her mind that there might be shinobis noticing her, but so far no one stopped her suspicious sneaking. Eventually she found one part of the surrounding fence with a few holes in them, just large enough to fit her feet; again with the incredible luck. With ease she climbs up and starts to crawl on top of it as well as she can while trying to stay out of the lighter areas.
Since she doesn't want to get caught, she makes a massive effort to find some pool that is empty. She sees two really large pools and figures only the really rich can bathe there. In one was an alone man, and the other one was empty. But she didn't want to take a risk. Sure, if it was a pool for the rich it was often maintained too, so she kept looking. After some looking, she found a series of smaller areas. They looked like they were connected to some kind of room. Most of those rooms were actually lit up and voices and splashing came from various pools. Eventually she lucked out again though; an empty pool next to a dark room with no one inside. She sat still for a few, making sure it was really empty before she carefully climbed down on the inside. She tip-toed up to the room, peeked inside; nope, no one there. Great! Getting excited she shedded all of her clothes and neatly folded them on the ground some bit away from the pool, pulled out her towel and put her empty bag next to her clothes. Then she walked over to the pool that actually smelled a bit funky, much as all hit springs does. To her that didn't matter though and slowly she eased in while leaving the towel on the dry ground. It felt so good. Really nice! She just sat there, leaning her head backwards and took a deep breath. Yep, she thought she deserved a break once in a while. And then she completely got lost in thoughts and forgot to be vigilant.