Thought I would see her face with 〜ようと思う
Grammar Explanation: Thinking of doing with 〜ようと思う
Seeing Rindou asleep, Sazanka reaches for her mask. Rindou wakens and backs away. Tsubaki asks what they’re doing so early in the morning.
- サザンカ:
- 「リンドウのカオを見ようと思って…」
- “I thought I would see Rindou's face...”
Key Points
見ようと思って = “I was thinking I’d try to see / get a look at it”
Pattern: [verb volitional form] + と思う → “think / intend to do [verb]”.
Here 見ようと思って explains Sazanka’s immediate intention just before Rindou woke up.
The volitional 見よう (from 見る) does not mean simple future here; it shows “I was about to / I was thinking I’d…”
思って… trails off as an explanation or excuse
“思って…” leaves the sentence unfinished, like “…that was what I was trying to do”.
Ending in て makes the line sound softer and more sheepish than a firm, fully closed と思った.
Non-past form, past intention
Even though the pattern is based on と思う, the line refers to what Sazanka was thinking a moment earlier.
In conversation, 〜ようと思って is very natural when giving the reason for an action that was just underway.
Learners may expect a fully past 〜ようと思った, but the て form fits better when the explanation connects directly to what happened next.
カオ in katakana adds a casual, manga-like feel
顔 is written as カオ for stylistic effect rather than a change in meaning.
Katakana can make an everyday word feel more blunt, playful, or visually emphasized in dialogue.