"Class, may I have your attendance?"

"Sure."

Mr. Ali's request was approved by Ed. So, the attendance was taken; one by one, the students's attendance were taken. After that, the teacher counted the number of students, to make sure they match the attendance sheet.

"Good," he said. "Seems like you all are present."

"Yeah…," Eddy said, "except for those boys in red."

The teacher soon realised that three of his students, Demoman, Heavy and Engineer, were absent without leave. Mr. Ali recalled that, they were absent for most of their first day at school, and fully absent in other days. He just nodded his head.

Later, his phone rang. He received a message, so he picked it up. It was actually Heavy who sent the message, which read:

TO DEAR TEACHER!

It seems WE TEAM FORTRESS RED TEAM CANNOT ENTER CLASS TODAY.

Because WE are AT WAR! BIG WAR!

SAD because WE CANNOT ENTER CLASS.

HEAVY LOVES TO STUDY, BUT CANNOT STUDY BECAUSE OF MISSION!

But FRIENDS are HERE.

SNIPER AND MEDIC are HERE.

DEMOMAN NOT IN CLASS, ENGINEER, TOO. THEY with ME.

GOOD LUCK, TEACHER. YOU STILL DA BEST!

HEAVY

"Seems like they really are soldiers…"

Quack said, "Sure they are."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. They talked about it sometimes; they are fighting the Blue team in their homeland."

"How do you know?"

"You sneaking around people, Quackie?" Eddy asked.

"Of course not, Eddy," Quack replied. "But I am quite close to Demoman, so I got to talk to him."

"Well…in spite of everything…they said that their friends will be here."

"Ahem…" A voice was heard from a certain distance. Turned out it came just a few metres behind the classroom door, from the outside. Mr. Ali opened the door, and saw a man in a hat, and another with spectacles. Both were wearing red-coloured clothes; the one with the hat in a red-coloured, long-sleeved shirt; while the one with specks wore a white coat and bright red glove. They were both sweating, especially the bigger one in the coat.

"Well…" Mr. Ali said, "Looks like you both might be…"

"Sniper," the man with the brown hat said. "This fella beside me is Medic. We are…"

"Team Fortress Red Team members?"

"Yes, mate!" the man known as Sniper replied in a thick Australian accent.

"Ja!" the Medic said, a German word for 'yes'. "We came here not on fuhrer's order; fellow soldiers called us to come here."

"I get it. Now…welcome to the class, Mr. Sniper and Mr. Medic. Please attend to your seats."

The teacher then looked at the Medic and said, "I suggest that you remove the coat. It's a warm day so far." Probably he realised Medic was sweating a lot.

A peek at his notebook was essential before certain lessons. Mr. Ali would always do that, to make sure he knows what and how to teach. He flicked several pages, until he decided to close the book. His focus would later turn to his young students.

"All right," he said in a confident voice, "we will learn about…food."

"Food?" Eddy asked. "What is this? A culinary arts? I didn't sign up for this."

"Well, that is part of the curriculum, Eddy. So, it is our duty to follow it, the best way we can," the teacher said with a smile.

"Oh, all right. Whatever."

"So…," Double D opened up his mouth, "what are we going to cook today?"

"Hold on, Double D…we are not going to cook. Instead, we are going to learn about food."

So, the lesson began, where Mr. Ali told his students about the history of food. It turned out that food always existed all along, ever since the prehistoric times.

"Food is abundant in this world. There are depictions of food in many places. Bread is considered one of the favourite foods by people long time ago…till today, even. Of course, animals are also food source for some humans…"

"I ain't going to let them eat me," Chicken said.

"Heh, I'll be glad to, so I can shut him up," Eddy said, referring to Chicken.

"Boys, do not quarrel. Anyway, no one is going to eat each other in this classroom, or anywhere else. We are here to learn."

"Relax, Eddy," Ed said while laughing.

"Yeah," Double D said to his rather grumpy friend.

"Yeah, all right. Sorry Chicken," Eddy said to Chicken.

"No problem," Chicken replied.

The class went on, where the diligent and knowledgeable teacher shared his knowledge on many types of food. He also said that while he is a teacher, he still loves to cook at home. He enjoys making simple food like fried eggs, French fries, and chicken drummettes.

"Why, sir?" Quack asked politely.

"Because…they are easy to make. I am quite lazy to cook complicated food…" Mr. Ali replied, and laughed. Sniper also laughed, so did Medic and a number of students.

"Now I want to ask you," Mr. Ali said, "what is your favourite food?"

Sniper raised his hands. "Chicken stew."

Medic did the same. "Buffalo beef. Mein favourite!"

"Jawbreakers!" Ed said. The other Eds said the same thing, too.

"Fries," was Chicken's response.

"Ice cream," Quack said, "Gives me an energy boost…sometimes."

"Lions," Timon said. "Though I prefer buffalo meat, and tiger meat, and…"

"Wow! Well…because you lived in Africa, and food is abundant for you…" Double D said.

"Yeah…sure, but buffalo meat…"

"It's all right, Timon," Mr. Ali spoke up. "I understood what you said. Now…who likes to cook?"

Not many students raised their hands. Only Medic raised his hand.

"I love to cook buffalo meat and fish."

"Really? That's interesting…how is the procedure?"

"Vat procedure…?"

"Procedure of cooking buffalo meat and fish."

"Oh…it's mein favourite. Da best! Better zhan surgery."

"Seems like you have talent in more than one field, eh? You can cook and perform surgery."

"Ja! I learned surgery from mein uncle!"

"Well…good for you."

The classroom was full of joy in learning about food. They would go on and learn about different types of food, from fast food to deserts to chocolates, and even to the luxurious food. The teacher taught well and was full of passion when teaching. Eventually, the school bell rang, and everyone returned home.

However, before Mr. Ali could return, the Headmaster called him into his room. Thus, he had no choice but to obey his superior.

"Mr. Ali," the Headmaster said in a deep voice, suited to his large body.

"Yes…sir?" Mr. Ali said in a rather shallow voice.

"I believe there is nothing wrong…not much, actually…in your class."

"Oh, everything's fine…"

"How's the attendance?"

"It's okay…some are absent for several reasons, but they did hand out a message…"

"Hmm…"

"Yes…?"

"Messages? You know I need a written hardcopy of a document, as reasons for not attending classes. Don't you?"

"Err…no…I didn't. But now I do."

Headmaster frowned and sighed. "This is not a good way to be a teacher. You should know…next time…but there are consequences if you let your students absent without reason."

Mr. Ali nooded. "I understand, sir. I will do my best to inform my students to attend class…as frequent as they can."

"No. They must attend all classes. ALL!"

"Sir…I don't know if I am being rude…I hope I am not, but…they are students, and young students who are enjoying life. In fact, they are a good bunch of people, their commitment in class is spectacular."

"Well…if that's what you think…"

"…?" The young teacher looked at the Headmaster with a puzzled face.

"Hope you do well," Headmaster replied. "This conversation ends here. I suggest you go home and rest."

"Oh…okay!" Mr. Ali said before leaving the office.

Later, the Headmaster received a call. It was his wife and children. They wanted him to return home, to take care of the two young kids who are running around. His wife could not do it on his own. So, the Headmaster had to agree to return, even though he felt like staying at school at that time. He was seen moaning as he left the school compound.