>>149075924
My memory's failing me but I think he did something a lot like this back when he and Paulo went shopping for a birthday gift for Haley. Mighta been a BCI? Paulo brought up how gracious Mike is and Mike was like "what if I wasn't so perfect?"

I honestly think on some level he wants to be punished, he wants the catharsis of the sword of damocles finally falling, but he's too much of a pussy to pull the trigger. Like he's tired of the "perfect boy" image, he's tired of the expectations that come with people thinking he's perfect or the best at something, but he thinks without that, he has nothing. So he kinda tests the waters on letting people know how fucked up he thinks he is, but he doesn't go balls out.

It kinda doesn't work as well after the sperg era and Paulo having no reaction to Lucy's suicide attempt, but I think that's the idea. Frankly I think there's a slim chance he'll actually feel better after the initial shock of getting kicked out of the table wears off. Like the sick sense of relief of a chronically ill relative or pet dying.