Mike sincerely beats himself up whenever he feels guilty. Taeshi established this forever ago. What some anons haven't figured out is that Taeshi the writer uses pity-begging because its all she herself knows how to do. What, you think she'd ever try to actually change her ways? No no no, this way demands far less effort in the long run. More and more often, when any character in this comic wrongs another and wants forgiveness, or just basic sympathy, they pity-beg. Paulo does it, Lucy does it, and to some degree or another both Abbey and Stacy have done it. Even Sue has gone a round with Lucy. Mike's specific flavor involves more self-loathing than the others. This is to say that none of the characters should be taken as manipulative little sociopaths. They are quite clearly written to be sincere. The problem is their creator is writing what she knows, which is not much.